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Meet Our Staff

The Minnesota Veterinary Hospital Staff is committed to providing convenient, competitively priced, top quality veterinary care. Our complete full-service small animal care facility has been providing excellence in veterinary surgery and medicine since 1968. The comfort and well being of our patients is always our top priority.

Katherine Freed, DVM and Chief Medical Officer

Degrees:
Dr. Katherine Freed (Dr. Kate) received her undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Minnesota in 2000.

Areas of Interest:
Dr. Kate has also expanded her education by attending the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Leadership Academy in Colorado. The AAHA Leadership Academy was a fantastic way for her to expand her skills and knowledge to lead our team into the future. Dr. Kate enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine but has a special interest in dentistry. She enjoys getting to know her clients and patients and providing them high quality, compassionate care to ensure all her patients a long and healthy life. When Kate is not working she enjoys spending time with her husband, Mark, and their 2 daughters, along with their 2 mixed breed dogs, Ruti and Farley. She spends most of her free time going to her daughters soccer, basketball, theater and band activities. When she does have time of her own she enjoys long runs with her dogs, cooking, reading, and relaxing at the cabin.

Suzy Ahrens, DVM

Degrees:
Dr. Susanna Ahrens (Suzy) received her undergraduate degree training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree at the University of Minnesota in 1994.

Areas of Interest:
Dr. Ahrens has practiced medicine at MVH for over 18 years, and has cultivated longstanding relationships with many of our clients and animal patients. Her special interests include dermatology, internal medicine, behavioral medicine and acupuncture. In her spare time, she is a local Hospice volunteer, and enjoys working on obedience training with her 2 high-energy Labrador Retrievers! Suzy lives with her husband, Steve, in St. Paul. They share their home with 3 cats Franny, George and Gracie and their 2 dogs Jodi and Abby.

Pets:
They share their home with 3 cats Franny, George and Gracie and their 2 dogs Jodi and Abby.

Amanda Ritzer, DVM

Dr. Amanda Ritzer received her undergraduate B.S. degree in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Ross University with clinical training at the University of Minnesota in 2015.

Dr. Ritzer began her journey at MVH as an animal care attendant and receptionist while completing her undergraduate studies at the UofM. She is very excited to be a part of the MVH team again as a veterinarian. Her areas of interest include dentistry, preventative medicine, client education, and surgery. Dr. Ritzer is passionate about the human-animal bond and believes that pets are a valued member of the family. She strives to provide the best possible care to all of her patients to prolong and strengthen this bond for as long as possible.

In her free time, Dr. Ritzer enjoys being outdoors, especially fishing and boating, sporting events, and hiking with her yellow lab, Shandy.

Jeff Jensen, Hospital Administrator

Degrees:
Undergraduate degree in Communications with a business concentration from Augsburg College in 1998, and a certificate in Veterinary Practice Administration from the Veterinary Management Institute from Purdue University in 2000.

Areas of Interest:
Jeff grew up in Shoreview and began learning about veterinary management early in his childhood from his father, Dr. Douglas Jensen, who is the founder of Minnesota Veterinary Hospital. He has always been very interested in business and was extremely excited when he was hired in 1998 as the office manager. The dedication that he has showed to the hospital made him grow into the hospital administrator role where he is continuing his father's legacy through management of the entire hospital. His background includes an undergraduate degree in Communications with a business concentration from Augsburg College in 1998, and a certificate in Veterinary Practice Administration from the Veterinary Management Institute from Purdue University in 2000. Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife, Keri, and his 3 kids, Ellie, Alexis, and Luci; 1 rescued Chocolate Labrador Retriever “Murphy” and 1 Burmese Mountain Dog “Marvin”. When he is not busy with his family, he enjoys riding his Quarter horse, Two Eyed Dandy Man. Jeff is very proud and honored to have been a part of his father's practice for over 18 years. He is committed to providing the clientele with excellence in customer service and a trusting business relationship. He enjoys seeing and hearing about the experiences from the loyal clientele who continue to show their support and appreciation for how knowledgeable and caring the team of MVH is, which makes his job all the more worthwhile.

Natalie Wasiak, TECH

Rachel Copeland, Lead CVT

Areas of Interest:
Rachel joined MVH in October of 2014. She comes to us from a cat-only clinic so she has a lot of knowledge and experience with cats. Outside of work she enjoys softball, cross stitch and spending time with friends and family.

Pets:
Rachel has three cats, Akhenaton, Ramesses, and Patty. She also has a beagle mix named Truman Barnett, or Barney, for short.

Tera Thompson, CVT

Degrees:
Tera is a 2005 graduate of Argosy University with an AAS degree in Veterinary Technology.

Areas of Interest:
Tera joined the MVH team in March 2009. She enjoys getting to know each pet individually and making sure they feel comfortable during their visits here. During her free time she likes to watch/attend Twins games, have cookouts with friends, and walking the trails around the area.

Pets:
Charming cat, Viva.

Becky Wurst, CVT

Degrees:
BS degree in Biology from Northwestern University

Areas of Interest:
Enjoy learning new things, helping take care of all the pets, and getting to know all the pets and clients. Camping, bird watching, fishing, reading, and spending time with friends and family

Pets:
3 Zebra Finches and 1 Lady Gouldian finch. 2 Cats Leia and Chi.

Kayla Ellefson, CVT

Degrees: Kayla graduated in 2011 from Rochester Community and Technical College with an AAS Degree in Veterinary Technology.

Areas of Interest: Kayla joined the MVH team in January 2017. After graduating college she moved to Mankato with her now husband Ryan, where she worked in the pig farming industry for about 2 years. After moving up here to the cities she went to work for a research facility in Coon Rapids, where she worked with more large animals including cows, sheep and more pigs. After working there she moved to a small animal clinic over in the Maplewood area until she ended up here. She enjoys helping people and animals whenever she can. Outside of work she enjoys owning her own business with her husband and making new friends. She also likes to spend time outdoors such as fishing and riding her Harley Davidson motorcycle when the weather is nice.

Pets: 2 cats, Summit a brown tabby and Maple a tortoiseshell.

Kelly Meyers, Animal Care Supervisor/Client Service Coordinator

Degrees:
She is a 2009 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Bachelors degree in Field Biology.

Areas of Interest:
Kelly joined the MVH team in August 2011. She loves spending quality time with the boarding animals.

Pets:
Outside MVH, Kelly enjoys playing soccer and hanging out with her favorite dogs, Boone, Briggs, Mishka, and her new puppy, Kaja.

Ashley Mandt, Animal Care Attendant

Bio coming soon!

Brandi Clausen, Animal Care Attendant

Bio coming soon!

Ruth Peloquin, New Volunteer

Retired - 30 years from City of St. Paul.
This is her 2nd Summer with MVH walking dogs and staying active. She has a rescued cat named Sampson, who has been a patient at MVH for 4 yrs. Not to mention he highly recommends the dedicated/professional staff at MVH! Our boarding animals greatly appreciate her willingness to escort them outside and roam.